In this article I propose to consider the conditions upon which
this enduement of power can be obtained. Let us borrow a little
light from the Scriptures. I will not cumber your paper with
quotations from the Bible, but simply state a few facts that will
readily be recognized by all readers of the Scriptures. If the
readers of this article will read in the last Chapter of Matthew
and of Luke the commission which Christ gave to his disciples, and
in connection read the first and second chapters of the "Acts of
the Apostles," they will be prepared to appreciate what I have to
say in this article.

1st. The disciples had already been converted to Christ, and
their faith had been confirmed by his resurrection. But here let
me say that conversion to Christ is not to be confounded with a
consecration to the great work of the world's conversion. In
conversion the soul has to do directly and personally with Christ.
It yields up its prejudices, its antagonisms, its
self-righteousness, its unbelief, its selfishness; accepts him,
trusts him, and supremely loves him. All this the disciples had,
more or less, distinctly done. But as yet they had received no
definite commission, and no particular enduement of power to
fulfill a commission.

2d. But when Christ had dispelled their great bewilderment
resulting from his crucifixion, and confirmed their faith by
repeated interviews with them, he gave them their great commission
to win all nations to himself. But he admonished them to tarry at
Jerusalem till they were endued with power from on high, which he
said they should receive not many days hence. Now observe what
they did. They assembled, the men and women, for prayer. They
accepted the commission, and, doubtless, came to a mutual
understanding of the nature of the commission, and the necessity
of the spiritual enduement which Christ had promised. As they
continued day after day in prayer and conference, they, no doubt,
came to appreciate more and more the difficulties that would beset
them, and to feel more and more their inadequacy to the task. A
consideration of the circumstances and results leads to the
conclusion that they one and all consecrated themselves, with all
they had, to the conversion of the world as their life-work. They
must have renounced utterly the idea of living to themselves in
any form, and devoted themselves with all their powers to the work
set before them. This consecration of themselves to the work, this
self renunciation, this dying to all that the world could offer
them, must, in the order of nature, have preceded their
intelligent seeking of the promised enduement of power from on
high. They then continued, with one accord, in prayer for the
promised baptism of the Spirit, which baptism included all that
was essential to their success. Observe, they had a work set
before them. They had a promise of power to perform it. They were
admonished to wait until the promise was fulfilled. How did they
wait? Not in listlessness and inactivity; not in making
preparations, by study and otherwise, to get along without it; not
by going about their business, and offering an occasional prayer
that the promise might be fulfilled; but they continued in prayer,
and persisted in their suit till the answer came. They understood
that it was to be a baptism of the Holy Ghost. They understood
that it was to be received from Christ. They prayed in faith. They
held on, with the firmest expectation, until the enduement came.
Now, let these facts instruct us as to the conditions of receiving
this enduement of power.

1. We, as Christians, have the same commission to fulfill. As
truly as they did, we need an enduement of power from on high. Of
course, the same injunction, to wait upon God till we receive it,
is given to us.

We have the same promise that they had. Now, let us take
substantially and in spirit the same course that they did. They
were Christians, and had a measure of the spirit to lead them in
prayer and in consecration. So have we. Every Christian possesses
a measure of the spirit of Christ; enough of the Holy Spirit to
lead us to true consecration and inspire us with the faith that is
essential to our prevalence in prayer. Let us, then, not grieve or
resist him: but accept the commission, fully consecrate ourselves,
with all we have, to the saving of souls as our great and our only
life-work. Let us get on to the altar with all we have and are,
and lie there and persist in prayer till we receive the enduement.
Now, observe, conversion to Christ is not to be confounded with
the acceptance of this commission to convert the world. The first
is a personal transaction between the soul and Christ relating to
its own salvation. The second is the soul's acceptance of the
service in which Christ proposes to employ it. Christ does not
require us to make brick without straw. To whom he gives the
commission he also gives the admonition and the promise. If the
commission is heartily accepted, if the promise is believed, if
the admonition to wait upon the Lord till our strength is renewed
be complied with, we shall receive the enduement.

It is of the last importance that all Christians should
understand that this commission to convert the world is given to
them by Christ individually.

Every one has the great responsibility devolved upon him or her
to win as many souls as possible to Christ. This is the great
privilege and the great duty of all the disciples of Christ. There
are a great many departments in this work. But in every department
we may and ought to possess this power; that, whether we preach,
or pray, or write, or print, or trade, or travel, take care of
children, or administer the government of the state, or whatever
we do, our whole life and influence should be permeated with this
power. Christ says: "If any man believe in me, out of his belly
shall flow rivers of living water"--that is, a Christian
influence, having in it the element of power to impress the truth
of Christ upon the hearts of men, shall proceed from him. The
great want of the Church at present is, first, the realizing
conviction that this commission to convert the world is given to
each of Christ's disciples as his life-work. I fear I must say
that the great mass of professing Christians seem never to have
been impressed with this truth. The work of saving souls they
leave to ministers. The second great want is a realizing
conviction of the necessity of this enduement of power upon every
individual soul. Many professors of religion suppose it belongs
especially and only to such as are called to preach the Gospel as
a life-work. They fail to realize that all are called to preach
the Gospel, that the whole life of every Christian is to be a
proclamation of the glad tidings. A third want is an earnest faith
in the promise of this enduement. A vast many professors of
religion, and even ministers, seem to doubt whether this promise
is to the whole Church and to every Christian. Consequently, they
have no faith to lay hold of it. If it does not belong to all,
they don't know to whom it does belong. Of course, they cannot lay
hold of the promise by faith. A fourth want is that persistence in
waiting upon God for it that is enjoined in the Scriptures. They
faint before they have prevailed, and, hence, the enduement is not
received. Multitudes seem to satisfy themselves with a hope of
eternal life for themselves. They never get ready to dismiss the
question of their own salvation; leaving that, as settled, with
Christ. They don't get ready to accept the great commission to
work for the salvation of others, because their faith is so weak
that they do not steadily leave the question of their own
salvation in the hands of Christ; and even some ministers of the
Gospel, I find, are in the same condition, and halting in the same
way, unable to give themselves wholly to the work of saving
others, because in a measure unsettled about their own salvation.
It is amazing to witness the extent to which the Church has
practically lost sight of the necessity of this enduement of
power! Much is said of our dependence upon the Holy Spirit by
almost everybody; but how little is this dependence realized.
Christians and even ministers go to work without it. I mourn to be
obliged to say that the ranks of the ministry seem to be filling
up with those who do not possess it. May the Lord have mercy upon
us! Will this last remark be thought uncharitable? If so, let the
report of the Home Missionary Society, for example, be heard upon
this subject. Surely, something is wrong.

An average of five souls won to Christ by each missionary of
that society in a year's toil, certainly, indicates a most
alarming weakness in the ministry. Have all or even a majority of
these ministers been endued with the power which Christ promised?
If not, why not? But, if they have, is this all that Christ
intended by His promise? In a former article I have said that the
reception of this enduement of power is instantaneous. I do not
mean to assert that in every instance the recipient was aware of
the precise time at which the power commenced to work mightily
within him. It may have commenced like the dew, and increased to a
shower. I have alluded to the report of the Home Missionary
Society. Not that I suppose that the brethren employed by that
society are exceptionally weak in faith and power as laborers for
God. On the contrary, from my acquaintance with some of them, I
regard them as among our most devoted and self-denying laborers in
the cause of God. This fact illustrates the alarming weakness that
pervades every branch of the Church, both clergy and laity. Are we
not weak? Are we not criminally weak? It has been suggested that
by writing thus I should offend the ministry and the Church. I
cannot believe that the statement of so palpable a fact will be
regarded as an offence. The fact is, there is something sadly
defective in the education of the ministry and of the Church. The
ministry is weak, because the Church is weak. And then, again, the
Church is kept weak by the weakness of the ministry. Oh! for a
conviction of the necessity of this enduement of power and faith
in the promise of Christ!

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